Former England manager Sam Allardyce sends Trent Alexander-Arnold message to Liverpool
Liverpool have seen a dismal start to the season with the team sitting eighth in the league with one game to go before the FIFA World Cup break begins.
Many of the team’s key players have been out of form with Trent Alexander-Arnold being one of them and he would be looking to stake a claim in the official England squad for the FIFA World Cup under Gareth Southgate.
While speaking to No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast (h/t Liverpool Echo), former England boss Sam Allardyce sends a blunt message to the Liverpool right-back and believes he would be the fourth choice right back for the national team, mainly because no one taught him how to defend.
“Trent isn’t playing great. I love him, he’s an unbelievable footballer, but nobody has taught him how to defend, I’ve said that before.”
“It’s not as important as it was in our day, in our day it was the most important thing, but now it’s secondary.”
Trent has seen his fair share of criticism this season for a lack of defensive effort, which has cost the team points in the game this season.
This resulted in his exclusion from Southgate’s side for the national team’s last official fixtures in the UEFA Nations League, with many doubting that the player would make the official squad.
With injuries to Reece James and Ben Chilwell, it might provide an opportunity for Trent to be considered as he still is one of the most talented attacking fullbacks for the country and can give a different dimension to the squad.
His recent performances have been comparatively good which could provide Southgate with a selection headache ahead of announcing the official squad.
Trent’s luck with the national team has not been favourable to him with the defender missing the UEFA Euro 2020 final run due to a last-minute injury.
With Kyle Walker and Reece James currently out injured and Kieran Trippier has shown previously that he can play from the left, it opens up an opportunity for Trent to be considered but as mentioned by Allardyce, he has to prove that he can be as good in defence as he is in the attack.
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A bit of it could also depend on which options are fit and available for Southgate once the World Cup commences
